Interim Harrison mayor will be picked by committee members, town council

With the death of Mayor Raymond McDonough today, the town of Harrison will be without a mayor until one is selected by a process that involves both the town council members and county committee members for the town.

Members of the county committee for Harrison must meet within two weeks, or by Feb. 27, and they will recommend three people to serve reminder of McDonough's term, which is up at the end of 2014. The three people must be Democrats in this case, willing to serve and also residents of Harrison.

The three names are forwarded to town council, which has four weeks, or by March 14, to select one of the three people as the interim mayor. If the council, which has eight members, is deadlocked, the county committee members would make the selection by March 29.

The current town council consists of Laurence M. Bennett, Jesus R. Huaranga, James Doran, Victor Villalta, Carol Mandaglio, President Michael Dolaghan, Francisco Nascimento and Anselmo Millan.

Council members who were interviewed today did not want to discuss anything having to do with the selection of the interim mayor. The county committee members in the town number roughly 24 to 30 men and women.